Around the time "Pawn Stars" premiered on the History Channel, the late Richard "Old Man" Harrison gave the instant synopsis for the show: "It's like 'Antiques Roadshow,' but with the skin on the game." The PBS “Roadshow” vehicle, of course, was a traveling show. If you live in Billings, Montana, and find an old Philco radio, the "Roadshow" might well give you a ballpark figure. Meanwhile, “Pawn Stars” have generally taken advantage of playing at home, established in their Gold & Silver Pawn business in Las Vegas.
But the “Pawn Stars” are touring the country for the next few episodes of a touring series not yet titled “Pawn Stars” that will premiere this fall. We'll see Rick Harrison, Austin “Chumlee” Russell and Corey Harrison making deals in Denver; Seattle; San Francisco; Austin, Texas; Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Washington; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia.
Stars: Rick Harrison, Austin 'Chumlee' Russell, Corey Harrison
The first stop was Denver, on July 7. This week Team Pawn heads to Seattle and San Francisco. The long-term vision for the series was to streamline the format by taking the scenes out of the familiar and cozy Gold & Silver showroom. The regular series "Pawn Stars" is between seasons, with its "road trip" version filling the open dates.
"It's really different, because we're going out on the street, and people are bringing their treasures and seeing what we have to offer them," Chumlee said last week in a phone conversation. "And that's the difference. 'Antiques Roadshow' only tells you the estimated value of an item. They're giving you these super high inflated values that you might get at auction." But with "Pawn Stars," the distinction has always been that value is tied to profit.
The local journalistic community, especially its food insiders, was shocked to learn of the death of former Las Vegas Review-Journal food writer Greg Thilmont. The dedicated and veteran journalist died in Las Vegas on July 15. He was 52 years old. Early reports indicate that Thilmont died of a heart attack. Official results are pending. Thilmont's brother, Matt, says his friends are discussing a memorial this fall.
Thilmont co-authored the "Eating Las Vegas" books. As co-founder of that series, Las Vegas food critic John Curtas said on Facebook, “Greg never met a roadside restaurant he didn't like, or a hike he didn't want to take. He was a proud Westerner who could appreciate the merits of a grilled cheese sandwich or Mexican hole-in-the-wall with the sharp palate of a trained gourmet...without ever losing the Everyman's touch."
Another friend and colleague, food journalist and former R-J staffer Al Mancini, said of Thilmont, “He was an accomplished food writer, a true Vegas fan, and just an overall good guy. Although we never worked together, she was always happy to see him at events or in restaurants. He was one of the good guys, motivated by a love of the beat he was covering, rather than ego or other selfish concerns.”
On a personal note, I worked with Thilmont in the mid-2000s back in our Greenspun Media Group days. He was one of the company's first online publishers, along with P.J. Pérez, another great journalist and a wonderful guy.
Greg and I also share the same hometown of Pocatello, Idaho. Invariably, whenever one of us visited Poky, we communicated with the other. Greg used to remember, "Make sure you go to Buddy's!" Speaking of the cozy, family-owned Italian place we'd both favored since we were kids.
The last time I heard from Greg during one of his road trips in Idaho was about two years ago. He had just checked into the Lava Hot Springs Inn, just outside of Poky, which is run by my father, George. Greg was fascinated that my family had a business in the small town of Lava. He said that he had "a great swim" in the pools. He said that he wanted to visit us again, someday, when we could both be there.
Every time I'm at those pools, or enjoying the famous Italian salad dressing at Buddy's, I think of my friend Greg, a proud vegan from Las Vegas who had a lot of Poky in him.